City of Heroes Freedom is free and live

City of Heroes becomes City of Anyone-Can-Join

NCsoft has announced the launch City of Heroes Freedom, whhich adds a free-to-play model to the superhero MMO. The decision to supplement City of Heroes with a free-to-play option was first teased in June, but today's launch of Freedom also comes with a major update. To try it, you can use an old login or log onto cityofheroes.com and create a new profile.

Freedom's launch will be accompanied by the Issue 21: Convergence update, which adds a new zone, the First Ward, and new monthly Signature Story Arcs, allowing players to participate in the main storyline and fight alongside iconic heroes. There are also more power sets, costumes, and a new in-game Paragon Rewards system. “We aren’t just flipping a switch and going ‘Free-to-Play,’” says executive producer at Paragon Studios Brian Clayton. “We’re embarking on the biggest content and feature update to City of Heroes in its seven-year history.”

With Freedom, new players will now be able to adventure all the way to level 50 free of charge. But there are also special benefits and perks for 'Premium' and 'VIP' players. The introduction of the new free-to-play system will hopefully allow players to invest as much or as little in the CoH experience as they'd like. More details on what's included with CoH's new hybrid model can be found here.